Do you remember, many, many moons ago - 2011, to be precise - when the Nintendo 3DS came out? I sure do. It only got discontinued in September 2020, and it remains my favorite Nintendo console. Granted, I love my Switch 2, but the 3DS holds so many memories over the years, and perhaps the finest games Nintendo has ever made.
This love letter includes the 2DS (released in 2013, often bundled with Pokémon) and the 3DS XL, which I have on my desk in the Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer colorway. My first 3DS was a fairly used aqua option from eBay, which I spent some of my student loan on back in 2012 as I sequestered alone in my shoddy student accommodation.
I bought it for what I say is the best 3DS game ever - Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Sure, I have nearly 1k hours in New Horizons, but the sheer charm of New Leaf cannot be beaten. It introduced so many mechanics, such as the ability to change up your town, scan in amiibos, and make custom coffees for your neighbours. But this isn't just about my obsession with New Leaf, so let's move on.
Other games include 3D versions of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, allowing a lot more players to get their hands on them, and a new addition in the form of A Link Between Worlds. Moving on to Pokémon, we got some amazing options from different generations to play: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, X and Y, and my personal favorite games in the series - Ultra Sun and Moon.
A smattering of other shoutouts includes Kid Icarus: Uprising, Persona Q and Q2, Nintendogs and Cats, and the recently very relevant Tomodachi Life, which added a whole new bizarre level to life sims.
The best thing, though, was perhaps that a lot of these games (and more, much, much more) were part of the forgotten Nintendo Selects line. Why that didn't get its own Switch range, I'll never know, but for a broke student like me, it was a savior. Games including Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, and even New Leaf were available for just $19.99/£19.99 each. What an absolute steal! This made the console a lot more attainable to many players without the $40 price tag on every game.
Looking at the hardware of the 3DS, I miss the dual-screen aspect, and I think that's the only reason we've not seen any DS or 3DS games come to Nintendo Switch Online. That said, we got Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch, which requires the console to be held vertically and use the touch screen… though it doesn't easily allow the use of buttons. That's a thought for another day, however.
While I didn't really use the 3D aspect, as it gave me a headache, it was a funky addition that felt technologically revolutionary for the early 2010s. It added some more life to, uh, life sims, and made Mario's worlds look cubic, rather than square. And speaking of looks, remember themes? Being able to change how the menus and backgrounds looked? Exquisite. Why this isn't an option on the Switch is beyond me.
The 3DS also had three cameras - two back, one forward - which have become very handy in recording gigs and events over the years. It's apparently especially common at 100 Gecs shows, so look out for that. Other than rock bands, you could photograph anything in 3D or regularly, and even use it in games like Face Racers, or to see AR creatures come to life in Nintendogs.
The little clamshell gaming device had whimsy and felt safer to take on the go with you, as closing it protected the screens a bit. Bring it back, I say, or give me a DS XXXXL, which is basically a foldable Switch.